Maths @ USYD vs Actuarial+Applied Finance @ Macquarie? (1 Viewer)

[quickoats]

I am deliberating between doing a B Sc / M Math Sc (majoring in Financial Maths and Statistics and Econometrics) at Sydney Uni vs a B Actl Stds/ B App Fin at Macquarie. My ATAR is sufficient for entry into either course, but I'm not sure which one to pick. Macquarie is offering a $10k a year scholarship, whilst USyd is offering the Dalyell Scholars program.

Is doing an Actuarial studies degree a good pathway anymore? I have heard about the lack of employment prospects, but is it still a worthwhile course?
If I intend on pursuing a career in data analytics/predictive modelling, would it be a waste of time to study actuarial? Similarly, would doing the Bachelor+Master of Science program be limiting in career prospects?

In terms of travel, both unis are quite accessible, so my only deliberation is on the actual degrees that I am going to study.

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[TheOnePheeph]

I can't really answer your question sorry, but just wondering, did they already offer the Dayllel Scholars Program to you? I preferenced the BSci/MMathSc at syd and got a 98+ atar but they haven't said anything about it to me yet.

 

[quickoats]

I can't really answer your question, but just wondering, did they already offer the Dayllel Scholars Program to you? I preferenced the BSci/MMathSc at syd and got a 98+ atar but they haven't said anything about it to me yet.

I got an email in my spam folder inviting me to the Dalyell section of the info day that was held today, so I assumed that was supposed to be a sort of indicator that I was Dalyell eligible.

 

[TheOnePheeph]

I got an email in my spam folder inviting me to the Dalyell section of the info day that was held today, so I assumed that was supposed to be a sort of indicator that I was Dalyell eligible.

Ok nvm, found the email about that lol. I'd assume that means we are eligible, it says on the website 98+ and a Daylell eligible course.

 

[sida1049]

The Dalyell scholars program isn't all that grand or anything, so don't worry too much about it. In my opinon, your choice comes down to this: you want to get into a data science career.

While an actuarial education can prepare you for a data analysis career, you're better off with stats + comp sci. Econometrics is also okay as a substitute for stats, but imo you might as well go for stats since maths, stats and comp sci are all under the same faculty (science). Finance definitely does not prepare you for this.

My suggestion? Do B. Sci (Dalyell scholars in mathematical sciences if you want) with B. Advanced Studies at USYD, and major in financial maths and stats (pick the machine learning courses from stats obviously) and comp sci (there's an intro to AI course). You can additionally do a minor in something, possibly econometrics if you really want, or whatever you find interesting/useful. Information systems would be a nice minor too. There is a lot of flexibility here, choosing two majors and a minor can give you many great combinations that leads to a data science career. (The minor is totally optional btw, if you don't want a minor, you can just keep the rest of the credit points as electives on anything you want.)

Edit: oh yeah and how can I forget, there's a new data science major run by the maths faculty here, so you can go for that if you like. This also means that data science honours is a thing here. Alternatively, honours in stats (or financial maths and stats) or comp sci is also a great way to get into data analysis.

 

[quickoats]

I heard the Dalyell Scholars program is a bit of a cash grab and doesn’t offer a great financial benefit, so I’ll probably forgo that option. Without those compulsory units, I’d have around 24cp in electives to use up. Would that be enough to be knowledgeable in comp sci? Or would it be better to extend comp sci coursework to a minor or a major?

 

[sida1049]

I heard the Dalyell Scholars program is a bit of a cash grab and doesn’t offer a great financial benefit, so I’ll probably forgo that option.

This is definitely true and forgoing Dalyell Scholars is valid. They've offered it as a replacement of the old B. Sci (Advanced Mathematics), which required a high ATAR. The latter course was literally just B. Sci except you have to do a maths/stats major and take sufficiently many advanced senior units, so in some sense the new Dalyell Scholars has marginally more benefit, but it sounds really complicated and having compulsory Dalyell projects, while it can be great opportunities, can also mean you get less electives and get locked into doing projects you're not really interested in.

Without those compulsory units, I’d have around 24cp in electives to use up. Would that be enough to be knowledgeable in comp sci? Or would it be better to extend comp sci coursework to a minor or a major?

Honestly, I think it's perfectly valid to just learn the things you want to learn, even if it means not ending up with a minor/major. For example, there will be some comp sci units you find enjoyable/relevant, and some comp sci units you might not find enjoyable/relevant, so for the purposes of both enjoying your studies and acquiring relevant knowledge for your career, it might make perfect sense to forgo the title of a minor/major to only do what you want, so don't worry too much about labels.